


by the pond

by pidgeandcat



Series: cat zkdd 2020 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambassador Katara (Avatar), F/M, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, ZKDD 2020, Zutara, please don't lie to me, zkdd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 09:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27848554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pidgeandcat/pseuds/pidgeandcat
Summary: “But you’re not just an ambassador. You’re more than that. To me, at least.”
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: cat zkdd 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036110
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	by the pond

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! this is part two of zkdd 2020, for the prompt "please dont lie to me." it sounded kinda angsty so i tried to turn it around and make it fluffy. enjoy, and thanks for reading! :)) (cat)

He found her in the garden, just as he always did. 

She was sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, the blue fabric of her dress splayed out on the grass as if to mimic the pond before her. Trailing slender fingertips through the surface, Katara didn’t notice him right away, and she was idly bending the water into swirling shapes that shifted constantly into intricate designs and glittering helixes. He watched her for a few more moments, letting her relish her brief moment of solitude and peace, before making his presence known. 

“Hi.”

She spun around, startled, but visibly relaxed when she noticed it was just him.

“Oh. Hi,” she grinned. “Care to join me?”

Zuko plopped down in the space next to her, tugging his cumbersome breastplate over his head and plunking it onto the ground. 

“I hate this thing,” he grumbled, and Katara punched his shoulder lightly. 

“Oh come on, it doesn’t look that bad.”

“Yeah, but it feels like I’m wearing an entire steamship on my shoulders,” he griped, attempting to knead out the knots in his neck. Without a word, she placed her cold hands on his back and rubbed at the points of tension, and his head lolled to the side as she worked them out. As her nimble fingers danced around his shoulder blades, they launched into a sleepy, somewhat animated conversation, discussing trade figures and meeting topics and their least favorite advisers. 

“What about Minister Kai?” She giggled. “I don’t know if you noticed, but he had a tea stain on the front of his robes today.” 

He snorted and shook his head. “That proposal of his was pretty bold, then, from a man who can’t even keep his drink in his mouth.” They both laughed softly. “What do you think of Ren? He was kind of glaring at you today.”

“Zuko, everyone glares at me there.” 

“Maybe so, but Ren doesn’t seem like the kind of person to glare for no reason.” 

“What, are you  _ accusing _ me of something?” she dramatically feigned offense. 

“Well, that depends,” he retorted. “Did you  _ do _ something?”

Katara removed her hands from his shoulders and placed them in her lap, scowling playfully over the fronds of pond grass. “...No…”

“Don’t lie to me.”

She looked back at him before sighing and closing her eyes. “Okay, maybe. But it wasn’t a big deal-”

“Katara.”

She knew Zuko wouldn’t leave her alone until she told him. She didn’t want to, and she didn’t necessarily want him to leave her alone, but she knew she had to anyways. 

“Fine. I may or may not have… uncovered evidence of certain nobles paying their way around the law. And one of them may or may not have been Minister Ren’s father. And I may or may not have shown the evidence to him…” She plucked a handful of grass with gusto. “And he may or may not have told me where I can shove my ‘evidence.’”

Zuko stood up sharply, grabbing his breastplate and trying to shove it back on as he began stalking back off towards the palace. 

“I swear on Agni, I am  _ going _ to beat his head in until he has a concave skull,” Katara heard him mutter, and she scrambled up, latching her hands around his armor and pulling him back. 

“No, wait, don’t do that! We can work this out.” She spun him around, her brows furrowed in concern and his in anger. 

“But he threatened you! He should be arrested for that-”

“Zuko. Do you  _ really _ think an empty threat like that is worth throwing one of your most valuable ministers in jail?” 

She could tell the gears were turning in his head. “Well, no, but-”

“Plus, I’m nobody that important. I'm just the ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe,” she shrugged. “If it was somebody higher up,  _ then _ maybe it would warrant that.” 

Zuko frowned. “But you’re not just an ambassador. You’re more than that. To me, at least.” He was so sincere about it that she blushed and smacked his shoulder. 

“Oh, stop, you. Come on,” she said, linking their arms. “I’d love to go finish my conversation with Ren, under the supervision of the Fire Lord, of course.” He wrinkled his nose at her and she laughed. 

“Don’t call me that.”

“Oh, well what should I call you then,  _ your lordliness?” _

“Shut up.”

“Never.”


End file.
